The Muse at Play: Riddles and Wordplay in Greek and Latin Poetry

Published by De Gruyter 2013

The Muse at Play

Riddles and Wordplay in Greek and Latin Poetry

Edited by: Jan Kwapisz , David Petrain and Mikolaj Szymanski

Volume 305 in the series Beiträge zur Altertumskunde

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110270617

Overview
Contents

About this book

In May 2011, a conference on riddles and word games in Greek and Latin poetry took place at the Institute of Classical Studies of the University of Warsaw. The conference was intended as an open forum where specialists working in different fields of classical studies could meet to discuss the varied manifestations of riddles and other technopaegnia - both terms being understood broadly to encompass the full range of play with language in classical antiquity, in keeping with the use made of the two terms in ancient and early modern theoretical discussions. This volume offers revised versions of the papers presented during the conference. Contributions by scholars from Europe and the USA treat a number of interconnected topics, including: ancient and modern attempts to formulate a definition of the riddle; poetic games at Greek symposia; experimentation with language in late classical poetry; riddles in the book cultures of the Hellenistic age and late antiquity; the functions of word games carved in stone, written on papyrus, or inscribed on the wall as graffiti; authors famed for their obscurity, such as Heraclitus and Lycophron; wordplay in Neo-Latin poetry; oracles, magic squares, pattern poetry, palindromes and acrostichs.

Author / Editor information

Jan Kwapisz and Mikolaj Szymanski, University of Warsaw, Poland; David Petrain, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN, USA.

Supplementary Materials

Contents

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
The Muse at Play: An Introduction Joshua T. Katz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
I. Discourses of Play
The Sympotic Tease Ewen Bowie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
“You Make Less Sense than a (New) Dithyramb”: Sociology of a Riddling Style Pauline A. LeVen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
Magic Squares, Alphabet Jumbles, Riddles and More: The Culture of Word-Games among the Graffiti of Pompeii Rebecca R. Benefiel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
II. The Ancient Riddle: Theory and Practice
What Has It Got in Its Pocketses? Or, What Makes a Riddle a Riddle? Christine Luz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
Technopaegnia in Heraclitus and the Delphic Oracles: Shared Compositional Techniques Lisa Maurizio Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
“Gods Cannot Tell Lies”: Riddling and Ancient Greek Divination Frederick G. Naerebout and Kim Beerden Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
Were There Hellenistic Riddle Books? Jan Kwapisz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
The Rhetoric of the Riddle in the Alexandra of Lycophron Christophe Cusset and Antje Kolde Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	168
In scirpo nodum: Symphosius’ Reworking of the Riddle Form Erin Sebo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
III. Visual Poetry in the Text and on the Stone
The Treachery of Verbal Images: Viewing the Greek technopaegnia Alexandra Pappas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Nicander’s Aesopic Acrostic and Its Antidote Michael B. Sullivan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
Greek Acrostic Verse Inscriptions Valentina Garulli Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	246
Sopha grammata: Acrostichs in Greek and Latin Inscriptions from Arachosia, Nubia and Libya Rachel Mairs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
IV. Case Studies
Versus anacyclici: The Case of P. Sorb. 72^v (= adesp. com. fr. 52 PCG) Krystyna Bartol Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
A Palindrome, an Acrostich and a Riddle: Three Solutions Jerzy Danielewicz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	320
Triple Tipple: Ausonius’ Griphus ternarii numeri Dunstan Lowe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	335
V. Playful Receptions
The Aulularia inversa of Joannes Burmeister Michael Fontaine Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	355
Waste of Time or Artistic Expression? Notes on poesis artificiosa of the Modern Era Barbara Milewska-Waźbińska Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	379
Note on Contributors and Editors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	401
Index of Passages Discussed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	405
General Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	417

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics, Institutes, Libraries
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 420
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 11
Keywords: Greek and Roman Literature; Greek and Roman Culture; Neo-Latin Studies; Riddles; Word Games

eBook

Published: December 6, 2012
ISBN: 9783110270617

Hardcover

Published: November 15, 2012
ISBN: 9783110270006